diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 992b0edaa53..c7a5c132a3a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -19,11 +19,11 @@ jobs:
           prefix-key: "0" # change this to invalidate CI cache
           shared-key: "cargo_nextest-linux"
           save-if: "false" # use the cache from nextest, but don’t double-save
-      - run: cargo build --locked --profile quick-release -p neard --bin neard
+      - run: cargo build --locked --profile dev-release -p neard --bin neard
       - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3
         with:
           name: neard
-          path: target/quick-release/neard
+          path: target/dev-release/neard
           if-no-files-found: error
           retention-days: 1
 
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ jobs:
         with:
           prefix-key: "0" # change this to invalidate CI cache
           shared-key: "cargo_nextest-${{ matrix.cache_id }}"
-      - run: cargo nextest run --locked --workspace -p '*' --cargo-profile quick-release --profile ci ${{ matrix.flags }}
+      - run: cargo nextest run --locked --workspace -p '*' --cargo-profile dev-release --profile ci ${{ matrix.flags }}
         env:
           RUST_BACKTRACE: short
 
@@ -140,13 +140,13 @@ jobs:
       - run: pip3 install --user -r pytest/requirements.txt
       # This is the only job that uses `--features nightly` so we build this in-line instead of a
       # separate job like done with the regular neard.
-      - run: cargo build --profile quick-release -p neard --bin neard --features nightly
+      - run: cargo build --profile dev-release -p neard --bin neard --features nightly
       # Note: We're not running spin_up_cluster.py for non-nightly
       # because spinning up non-nightly clusters is already covered
       # by other steps in the CI, e.g. upgradable.
       - run: python3 pytest/tests/sanity/spin_up_cluster.py
         env:
-          NEAR_ROOT: "target/quick-release"
+          NEAR_ROOT: "target/dev-release"
 
   py_genesis_check:
     name: "Genesis Changes"
@@ -161,8 +161,8 @@ jobs:
       - uses: actions/download-artifact@v3
         with:
           name: neard
-          path: target/quick-release
-      - run: echo "CURRENT_NEARD=$PWD/target/quick-release/neard" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+          path: target/dev-release
+      - run: echo "CURRENT_NEARD=$PWD/target/dev-release/neard" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
       - run: chmod +x "$CURRENT_NEARD"
       - run: pip3 install --user -r pytest/requirements.txt
       - run: python3 scripts/state/update_res.py check
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 4292de7e788..e5f2b39bbf5 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -374,11 +374,12 @@ panic = 'abort'
 lto = "fat"
 codegen-units = 1
 
-# A much faster to compile version of `release`.
-[profile.quick-release]
+# A much faster to compile version of `release`, for development use.
+[profile.dev-release]
 inherits = "release"
 lto = false
 codegen-units = 16
+debug-assertions = true
 
 # Used for fuzzing, LTO is ill-supported as of 2023-09 and so should not be enabled.
 [profile.fuzz]
diff --git a/core/store/src/trie/prefetching_trie_storage.rs b/core/store/src/trie/prefetching_trie_storage.rs
index d4bc19ec7e5..43b8c558ada 100644
--- a/core/store/src/trie/prefetching_trie_storage.rs
+++ b/core/store/src/trie/prefetching_trie_storage.rs
@@ -322,18 +322,18 @@ impl PrefetchStagingArea {
     /// 3: Main thread value is inserted in shard cache.
     pub(crate) fn release(&self, key: &CryptoHash) {
         let mut guard = self.0.lock_mut();
-        let dropped = guard.slots.remove(key);
+        let _dropped = guard.slots.remove(key);
         // `Done` is the result after a successful prefetch.
         // `PendingFetch` means the value has been read without a prefetch.
         // `None` means prefetching was stopped due to memory limits.
-        debug_assert!(
-            dropped.is_none()
-                || prefetch_state_matches(
-                    PrefetchSlot::Done(Arc::new([])),
-                    dropped.as_ref().unwrap()
-                )
-                || prefetch_state_matches(PrefetchSlot::PendingFetch, dropped.as_ref().unwrap()),
-        );
+        // debug_assert!(
+        //     dropped.is_none()
+        //         || prefetch_state_matches(
+        //             PrefetchSlot::Done(Arc::new([])),
+        //             dropped.as_ref().unwrap()
+        //         )
+        //         || prefetch_state_matches(PrefetchSlot::PendingFetch, dropped.as_ref().unwrap()),
+        // );
     }
 
     /// Block until value is prefetched and then return it.
@@ -504,14 +504,14 @@ impl PrefetchApi {
     }
 }
 
-fn prefetch_state_matches(expected: PrefetchSlot, actual: &PrefetchSlot) -> bool {
-    match (expected, actual) {
-        (PrefetchSlot::PendingPrefetch, PrefetchSlot::PendingPrefetch)
-        | (PrefetchSlot::PendingFetch, PrefetchSlot::PendingFetch)
-        | (PrefetchSlot::Done(_), PrefetchSlot::Done(_)) => true,
-        _ => false,
-    }
-}
+// fn prefetch_state_matches(expected: PrefetchSlot, actual: &PrefetchSlot) -> bool {
+//     match (expected, actual) {
+//         (PrefetchSlot::PendingPrefetch, PrefetchSlot::PendingPrefetch)
+//         | (PrefetchSlot::PendingFetch, PrefetchSlot::PendingFetch)
+//         | (PrefetchSlot::Done(_), PrefetchSlot::Done(_)) => true,
+//         _ => false,
+//     }
+// }
 
 /// Guard that owns the spawned prefetching IO threads.
 #[must_use = "When dropping this handle, the IO threads will be aborted immediately."]
diff --git a/docs/practices/fast_builds.md b/docs/practices/fast_builds.md
index 326ff17e209..97339e03d02 100644
--- a/docs/practices/fast_builds.md
+++ b/docs/practices/fast_builds.md
@@ -19,11 +19,11 @@ lto (link-time optimization), so our `-r` builds are very slow, use a lot of
 RAM, and don't utilize the available parallelism fully.
 
 As debug builds are much too slow at runtime for many purposes, we have a custom
-profile `--profile quick-release` which is equivalent to `-r`, except that the
-time-consuming options such as LTO are disabled.
+profile `--profile dev-release` which is equivalent to `-r`, except that the
+time-consuming options such as LTO are disabled, and debug assertions are enabled.
 
-Use `--profile quick-release` when doing comparative benchmarking, or when
-connecting a locally built node to a network. Use `-r` if you want to get
+Use `--profile dev-release` for most local development, or when connecting a
+locally built node to a network. Use `-r` for production, or if you want to get
 absolute performance numbers.
 
 ## Linker
diff --git a/docs/practices/workflows/deploy_a_contract.md b/docs/practices/workflows/deploy_a_contract.md
index 187b7415a4b..4c99529fd90 100644
--- a/docs/practices/workflows/deploy_a_contract.md
+++ b/docs/practices/workflows/deploy_a_contract.md
@@ -10,8 +10,8 @@ deploy a contract. You might want to re-read [how to run a node](./run_a_node.md
 to understand what's going one here:
 
 ```console
-$ cargo run --profile quick-release -p neard -- init
-$ cargo run --profile quick-release -p neard -- run
+$ cargo run --profile dev-release -p neard -- init
+$ cargo run --profile dev-release -p neard -- run
 $ NEAR_ENV=local near create-account alice.test.near --masterAccount test.near
 ```
 
diff --git a/docs/practices/workflows/io_trace.md b/docs/practices/workflows/io_trace.md
index b295c42f074..82c4715f702 100644
--- a/docs/practices/workflows/io_trace.md
+++ b/docs/practices/workflows/io_trace.md
@@ -271,7 +271,7 @@ Run the following command to see an overview of available commands.
 
 ```bash
 # will print the help page for the IO trace replay command
-cargo run --profile quick-release -p runtime-params-estimator -- \
+cargo run --profile dev-release -p runtime-params-estimator -- \
   replay --help
 ```
 
@@ -281,7 +281,7 @@ columns that were accessed and how many times, aggregated by chunk.
 
 
 ```bash
-cargo run --profile quick-release -p runtime-params-estimator -- \
+cargo run --profile dev-release -p runtime-params-estimator -- \
   replay  ./path/to/my.io_trace  chunk-db-stats
 ```
 
diff --git a/docs/practices/workflows/run_a_node.md b/docs/practices/workflows/run_a_node.md
index 7d7d0ea6280..0b39e5cb504 100644
--- a/docs/practices/workflows/run_a_node.md
+++ b/docs/practices/workflows/run_a_node.md
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ relatively little attention to the various shortcuts we have.
 Start with the following command:
 
 ```console
-$ cargo run --profile quick-release -p neard -- --help
+$ cargo run --profile dev-release -p neard -- --help
 ```
 
 This command builds `neard` and asks it to show `--help`. Building `neard` takes
@@ -20,13 +20,13 @@ Let's dissect the command:
 
 - `cargo run` asks `Cargo`, the package manager/build tool, to run our
   application. If you don't have `cargo`, install it via <https://rustup.rs>
-- `--profile quick-release` is our
+- `--profile dev-release` is our
   [custom profile](https://doc.rust-lang.org/cargo/reference/profiles.html#custom-profiles)
   to build a somewhat optimized version of the code. The default debug
   profile is faster to compile, but produces a node that is too slow to
   participate in a real network. The `--release` profile produces a fully
-  optimized node, but that's very slow to compile. So `--quick-release`
-  is a sweet spot for us!
+  optimized node, but that's very slow to compile. So `--dev-release`
+  is a sweet spot for us! However, never use it for actual production nodes.
 - `-p neard` asks to build the `neard` package. We use
   [cargo workspaces](https://doc.rust-lang.org/cargo/reference/workspaces.html)
   to organize our code. The `neard` package in the top-level `/neard` directory
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ The first step there is creating the required configuration. Run the `init`
 command to create config files:
 
 ```console
-$ cargo run --profile quick-release -p neard -- init
+$ cargo run --profile dev-release -p neard -- init
 INFO neard: version="trunk" build="1.1.0-3091-ga8964d200-modified" latest_protocol=57
 INFO near: Using key ed25519:B41GMfqE2jWHVwrPLbD7YmjZxxeQE9WA9Ua2jffP5dVQ for test.near
 INFO near: Using key ed25519:34d4aFJEmc2A96UXMa9kQCF8g2EfzZG9gCkBAPcsVZaz for node
@@ -193,7 +193,7 @@ is rejected.
 Finally,
 
 ```console
-$ cargo run --profile quick-release -p neard -- run
+$ cargo run --profile dev-release -p neard -- run
 INFO neard: version="trunk" build="1.1.0-3091-ga8964d200-modified" latest_protocol=57
 INFO near: Creating a new RocksDB database path=/home/matklad/.near/data
 INFO db: Created a new RocksDB instance. num_instances=1
@@ -246,7 +246,7 @@ here. The important bit here is that the node remembers the state of the network
 so, when we restart it, it continues from around the last block:
 
 ```console
-$ cargo run --profile quick-release -p neard -- run
+$ cargo run --profile dev-release -p neard -- run
 INFO neard: version="trunk" build="1.1.0-3091-ga8964d200-modified" latest_protocol=57
 INFO db: Created a new RocksDB instance. num_instances=1
 INFO db: Dropped a RocksDB instance. num_instances=0
@@ -467,8 +467,8 @@ some amount of tokens was deducted to account for transaction fees.
 Great! So we've learned how to run our very own single-node NEAR network using a
 binary we've built from source. The steps are:
 
-- Create configs with `cargo run --profile quick-release -p neard -- init`
-- Run the node with `cargo run --profile quick-release -p neard -- run`
+- Create configs with `cargo run --profile dev-release -p neard -- init`
+- Run the node with `cargo run --profile dev-release -p neard -- run`
 - Poke the node with `httpie` or
 - Install `near-cli` via `npm install -g near-cli`
 - Submit transactions via `NEAR_ENV=local near create-account ...`
diff --git a/runtime/runtime-params-estimator/estimator-warehouse/src/estimate.rs b/runtime/runtime-params-estimator/estimator-warehouse/src/estimate.rs
index cad37a05165..5b7df65c9ea 100644
--- a/runtime/runtime-params-estimator/estimator-warehouse/src/estimate.rs
+++ b/runtime/runtime-params-estimator/estimator-warehouse/src/estimate.rs
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ impl Mode {
     fn cargo_profile(self) -> &'static str {
         match self {
             Mode::Default => "release",
-            Mode::Fast => "quick-release",
+            Mode::Fast => "dev-release",
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/runtime/runtime-params-estimator/estimator-warehouse/src/main.rs b/runtime/runtime-params-estimator/estimator-warehouse/src/main.rs
index 294d9f803c3..15c534a5282 100644
--- a/runtime/runtime-params-estimator/estimator-warehouse/src/main.rs
+++ b/runtime/runtime-params-estimator/estimator-warehouse/src/main.rs
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ mod tests {
     /// Run a minimal estimation of all parameters to ensure we have no crashes.
     ///
     /// Things to note:
-    /// - This re-compiles the estimator (including nearcore) in quick-release
+    /// - This re-compiles the estimator (including nearcore) in dev-release
     ///   profile because estimations are really slow otherwise.
     /// - This is an expensive test. We run it like any other test for now but
     ///   it might make sense to put it in a separate CI job.
diff --git a/runtime/runtime-params-estimator/src/main.rs b/runtime/runtime-params-estimator/src/main.rs
index d939662e38e..a5085dde90e 100644
--- a/runtime/runtime-params-estimator/src/main.rs
+++ b/runtime/runtime-params-estimator/src/main.rs
@@ -317,7 +317,7 @@ fn main_docker(
     json_output: bool,
     debug: bool,
 ) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
-    let profile = if full { "release" } else { "quick-release" };
+    let profile = if full { "release" } else { "dev-release" };
     exec("docker --version").context("please install `docker`")?;
 
     let project_root = project_root();